Klára Kolouchová
Klára Kolouchová, née Poláčková was a Czech mountaineer who became the first Czech woman to summit the three highest peaks on Earth—Mount Everest, K2 and Kangchenjunga—and a total of five 8,000-metre peaks. She also completed the Seven Summits and four of the Volcanic Seven Summits.
Biography
Kolouchová worked as a PR manager for foreign companies in parallel to studies of business management at the Anglo-American University in Prague. Following her post as Regional Communications Manager at Euro RSCG Worldwide, she took up a position in the London office and worked as a communications consultant in the UK for the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Department of Health.In 2008, she had a daughter, Emma. After returning to the Czech Republic, she joined the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. In 2013, she married Martin Kolouch. She had a second child, son Cyril.
Apart from mountaineering, her favourite sport was tennis and she won the LTA tournament at the Queens Club in London.
Kolouchová died on 3 July 2025 while climbing Nanga Parbat, after her oxygen tank exploded and she fell from the mountain. According to mountaineer Jan Trávníček and Pakistani sources, Kolouchová's oxygen tank did not explode. On 7 July 2025, Czech outdoor company High Point, who supported Kolouchová, posted on Facebook, that Kolouchová's body was not found. Sherpa Taraman Tamang, who carried her personal stuff and oxygen tanks was 40 or 50 meters behind Kolouchová, heard a scream and saw her fell off outside of fixed rope, when they were on their way back to C2 camp.